Lunch & Learn: Father Eugene Patrick O'Grady: A WWII Baltimore Clergyman

Military historian Joseph Balkoski tells the story of Eugene Patrick O’Grady, who accompanied Mary’s soldiers as a chaplain throughout World War II. O’Grady was born in 1909 in West Baltimore, one of six children of Irish immigrants, and ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1935. When Maryland’s National Guard, as part of the 29th Division was mobilized in February 1941, the division had no chaplains, so O’Grady volunteered for this duty. He remained with the division throughout its stateside training, its overseas movement to Britain, and landed with Maryland’s 115th Infantry Regiment on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was a constant presence in the frontlines, and as one 29er noted, “he always beamed hope into our tormented souls.” This is the story of Eugene Patrick O’Grady and his remarkable dedication to the welfare of all 29th Division soldiers.

Joseph Balkoski served for many years as Command Historian of the Maryland National Guard and the US Army’s 29th Infantry Division. He is the author of eight widely acclaimed books on World War II history, including a two-volume series on American involvement in the D-Day invasion (Omaha Beach and Utah Beach) and a five-volume series, From Normandy to Victory, on the history of the 29th Infantry Division in World War II.

Balkoski was the founder and curator of the Maryland Museum of Military History at Maryland National Guard headquarters in Baltimore, which includes the 29th Infantry Division Archives, one of the finest collections of archival papers in the United States related to the service of a US Army division in wartime. He served on the Governor of Maryland’s Commission on Military Monuments, and was recently awarded the Maryland Distinguished Service Cross and Maryland National Guard Meritorious Service Medal for his lifetime of service to veterans, the state of Maryland, and the Army National Guard. In 2023, he was awarded the Order of St. Maurice, which is issued by the US Army Chief of Infantry for a lifetime of service to US Army infantrymen.

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ASL interpretation will be available for attendees.

Presented in partnership with The Maryland State Archives and The Maryland Four Centuries Project.